Being a Black Writer in the 21st Century: Erin E. Adams and Sidik Fofana

Tue, Feb 17 2026
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Park Slope Library

adults author talks Black History Month BPL Presents creative writing

Park Slope Library welcomes authors Erin E. Adams and Sidik Fofana to discuss writing, identity, and building Black characters and Black worlds with authenticity. 

In Erin E. Adams' Jackal, a young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside her white Rust Belt town. But she's not the first-and she may not be the last. . . . It's watching. As a Black woman, Liz doesn't exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward and passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the day of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the bride's daughter, Caroline, goes missing-and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood. It's taking. 

Sidik Fofana's Stories from the Tenants Downstairs explores eight interconnected stories following the tenants in the Banneker Homes, a low-income high rise in Harlem. At the Banneker homes, gentrification weighs on everyone's mind, as they weave in and out of each other's lives, endeavoring to escape from their pasts and forge new paths forward.

Please RSVP in advance as registration is limited. After the discussion, there will be an opportunity for Q&A with the audience. 

Light refreshments and bites will be provided by neighborhood market K-Slope.

PARTICIPANTS 

Erin E. Adams

Erin E. Adams is a first-generation Haitian-American writer and theatre artist. Her debut novel, JACKAL, was named one of the best of the year by Esquire, Vulture, PopSugar, Paste, and Publishers Weekly, and a best horror novel of all time by Cosmopolitan. JACKAL was also a finalist for the Edgar® Award, the Bram Stoker® Award, and the Shirley Jackson Award. Her short fiction has been featured in OUT THERE SCREAMING, edited by Jordan Peele, and THE BLACK GIRL SURVIVES IN THIS ONE. Her forthcoming second novel is titled ONE OF YOU.

 
Sidik Fofana
 
Sidik Fofana is a public school teacher in Brooklyn and graduate of NYU’s MFA Creative Writing program. He is a recipient of the 2023 Whiting Award and was also named an Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction in 2018. His work has appeared in the Sewanee Review and Granta. He is the author of Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, published by Scribner in 2022.
 

 


 

 

Sidik Fofana and Erin E. Adams
431 6th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215 Get Directions
Add to My Calendar 02/17/2026 06:00 pm 02/17/2026 07:30 pm America/New_York Being a Black Writer in the 21st Century: Erin E. Adams and Sidik Fofana <p><strong>Park Slope Library welcomes authors Erin E. Adams and Sidik Fofana to discuss writing, identity, and building Black characters and Black worlds with authenticity.&nbsp;</strong></p><p>In Erin E. Adams' <em>Jackal</em>, a young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside her white Rust Belt town. But she's not the first-and she may not be the last. . . . It's watching. As a Black woman, Liz doesn't exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward and passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the day of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the bride's daughter, Caroline, goes missing-and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood. It's taking.&nbsp;</p><p>Sidik Fofana's <em>Stories from the Tenants Downstairs </em>explores<em> </em>eight interconnected stories following the tenants in the Banneker Homes, a low-income high rise in Harlem. At the Banneker homes, gentrification weighs on everyone's mind, as they weave in and out of each other's lives,… Brooklyn Public Library - Park Slope Library MM/DD/YYYY 60
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